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Spontaneously cracked iPad screen

I’m actually wondering if there are more people who’s iPad Pro 12.9 inch screen spontaneously cracked. Mine recently did and Apple says it’s not under warranty. I didn’t do anything weird, it even cracked while having it in my hand. Apple said that screen cracks are never under warranty, so how can I prove I didn’t drop it?

iPad Pro, iOS 13

Posted on Jul 18, 2019 5:34 AM

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Posted on Jul 18, 2019 5:52 AM

You really can't prove you didn't drop it. All you can do is take it to your Apple Store and show it to them. If you have AppleCare+ a replacement iPad will only cost $49. If you don't, the out of warranty cost will be about 60% of the price of the device when new. Only Apple can tell if your issue was caused by a manufacturing defect. If they say it isn't, there's really nothing you can do.

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Jul 18, 2019 5:52 AM in response to Tomtiedom

You really can't prove you didn't drop it. All you can do is take it to your Apple Store and show it to them. If you have AppleCare+ a replacement iPad will only cost $49. If you don't, the out of warranty cost will be about 60% of the price of the device when new. Only Apple can tell if your issue was caused by a manufacturing defect. If they say it isn't, there's really nothing you can do.

Jul 18, 2019 6:43 AM in response to Tomtiedom

It doesn’t have to be dropped to get a cracked screen.

Was this iPad Pro in a protective case?

The Apple keyboard folio case is NOT very protective, as the sides and edges of the iPad Pro are always exposed.

Do you carry this iPad Pro in a backpack/book bag?

Did this iPad spend ANY time inside an overly hot vehicle interior?

Leave your iPad screen exposed to the hot sun outside?

There are lots of ways the screen could have cracked!

Jul 18, 2019 11:38 AM in response to lobsterghost1

I think I found out what happened. Someone told me to check if the iPad was still straight by laying it on a flat surface. I did, and I see a small curve. So is it possible that the glass suddenly cracked when I was picking it up, because something else already happened before? I understand I don’t get anything from warranty, but I just want to know what happened since it suddenly cracked and not (as everyone tells me) felt or anything.

Jul 18, 2019 11:46 AM in response to Tomtiedom

If the iPad is bent, it certainly could have put undue pressure on the screen. How it became bent is anyone's guess, but more than likely in a backpack or something put some pressure on it. These are aluminum devices, which are designed to be light for portability. If it wasn't in a protective case, yet transported around, it likely became bent in this manner.


My personal iPad is attached to a Brydge Keyboard, which is a solid chunk of Aluminum, which when closed would make it virtually impossible to put enough pressure on it for it to bend. And I then place that in a Laptop Sleeve, which is fully padded inside to add additional protection.


When you get your iPad replaced, I recommend you consider a case and perhaps a sleeve as well to protect it during transport.

Jul 18, 2019 11:44 AM in response to lobsterghost1

Thank you for your reply. It has been in my backpack. I have to say I have the folio case and it’s in my “laptop” sleeve of my backpack, but as said before, the folio case isn’t the strongest one. (Although it’s an expensive one). It’s a pity, and even more the outrages price of fixing it. I was so happy with my iPad. Thanks for the help.

Jul 18, 2019 5:58 PM in response to Tomtiedom

The repair.replament price would not have been so “outrageous”, as you so put it, If you had purchased extended, two-year AppleCare+ for that very expensive iPad Pro, at purchase time or within 60 days ( something you should always do for such an expensive Apple device ), a replacement iPad would only have cost you a $49 U.S.D. replacement fee, instead of the much more expensive out-of-warranty 60% cost.

“A penny wise. A dollar foolish”.

Jul 19, 2019 12:50 AM in response to Tomtiedom

I get AppleCare+ for every single Apple product I own and especially for Macs, as these are even more expensive to have serviced than most iDevices, which are usually not as expensive to repair/replace, but bad enough when these devices are pretty expensive to purchase.

And as far your iPad Pro is concerned, AppleCare+ would have been far cheaper to purchase than the expensive replacement cost you are facing and stuck with now!

Don’t you think?

You take a risk for years NOT purchasing that extra Apple warranty protection on expensive Apple devices, that odds are, at least once in that span of time, something is going to happen or go wrong to a device or computer that you will not be able to afford to repair or replace yourself early on.

Electronic device accidents and failures, on some level, can and do happen all the time and when you least expect it and, usually, at a bad economic time and circumstance.

These support communities are littered every single day with users who drop their iDevices and laptops all the time that got seriously burned because they hadn't purchase that additional, extended Apple product warranty protection.

It is NOT a matter of IF something will happen to your Apple devices or computers, but WHEN, as you have, unfortunately discovered.


If you can;t afford to replace that iPad Pro and you are now forced to use it as is, I would get some sort of thin plastic film screen protector to keep the remainder of glass protected and in place and keep it from falling out or cracking/shattering even more.


Glass screen protectors are out as many do not work well with the new 2018 iPad Pro models.


Best of Luck to You!


Jul 19, 2019 6:09 AM in response to Tomtiedom

I agree. I never buy extended warranties on anything. Over my lifetime, I am more than willing to pay for those rare or occasional times an extended warranty claim may have been made. That’s what a savings account is for. If I had purchased AppleCare on every Apple device I have owned in the last 25 years or so I would be out of pocket thousands, and would have had just one single claim (a PowerBook back in the early 2000s - and the repair for that was a few hundred to replace the display power inverter).


The same goes for anything else I could have purchased extended warranties on but declined to do so. Extended warranties simply exist to greatly increase company profit margins, since they know the majority of those who buy them will never make a claim. They are not a good deal for consumers.


The Apple out of warranty replacement fee is not that outrageous when you consider you’re getting a like new replacement for your busted or malfunctioning device. And the OoW replacement reinstates the remainder of your original warranty, or offers 90 days coverage (whichever is longer).

Spontaneously cracked iPad screen

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